


Just As You Are

by staymagical



Series: Keithtober 2019 [17]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Before Wedding Jitters, Keith is constantly freaking out, Keithtober 2019, Klancetober 2019, M/M, Panic, Wedding, especially when it comes to Lance, self-depreciation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-27 09:29:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21116528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/staymagical/pseuds/staymagical
Summary: Keith is in the midst of a panic on the most important day of his life when Krolia finds him.He was so stupid to think he could do this. So so stupid. He can’t even tie a bow tie, why did he ever think he was fit to be a husband?To be Lance’s husband.





	Just As You Are

**Author's Note:**

> Keithtober Day 19: Keith & Krolia

In the mirror, Keith’s reflection knits his brow, fingers threading the last loop of the bow tie through itself. The loop peeks through and he pinches it, working it until he can pull both ends and tighten. He steps back to observe his handiwork.

And wrenches the fabric out of its lopsided, poorly constructed bow tie and throws it across the room with a growl of frustration. 

He was so stupid to think he could do this. So so stupid. He can’t even tie a bow tie, why did he ever think he was fit to be a husband?

To be Lance’s husband. 

“Are you okay?”

Keith whips his head toward the door, so caught up in his own turmoil that he hadn’t heard the door open. Krolia stands there by the slowly closing door, donned in her best uniform, a look of vague concern sharpening her features. 

Keith shakes his head, covering his mouth with his hand as his stomach gives a particularly harsh clench. “I’m going to throw up.”

Krolia’s frown deepens. Her eyes flick between Keith and the discarded bowtie before bending down to retrieve it and making her way over to Keith. 

“Is that a normal reaction?” she asks. With gentle nudges to his shoulders, she turns him to face her and slips the bowtie around his neck. “Isn’t this supposed to be the happiest day of your life?”

“Yes, but what if I screw it up?” Keith’s voice is brittle, cracking at the edges as fear twists through his gut. “What if I’m not fit for this? What if I can’t care for him? What if I can’t provide for him or give him everything he wants or needs?” In front of him, Krolia stays silent, eyes hardening, listening as deft fingers work at the bowtie. Keith glances away, ashamed. “I don’t have a real job, I can’t cook for shit, my apartment is much too small for the both of us, not to mention all my fucking baggage—”

“Keith.” The firm edge to Krolia’s voice breaks through Keith’s panic. She places a solid hand to his shoulder, pulling his focus back to her piercing eyes. “Stop.”

Keith blinks back a few stubborn tears, taking a deep breath and letting it out in a shaky exhale. He had thought he was alright, that he would be okay today and not let his building anxiety get the better of him. That if he just focused on the happiness and elation in Lance’s beaming grin, of his tears when Keith said yes and every day leading up to this one, then he could ignore the unfounded panic.

How wrong he had been.

Krolia squeezes his shoulder, face softening and right then, Keith catches a glimpse of the mother she could have been had she stayed all those years ago. The mother she’s trying hard to become. “You’ve been together for five years now, right? Lived together for three?”

Keith nods.

“And you’ve known each other for even longer,” Krolia continues. Her hands go back to his neck and Keith feels the bow tie shift comfortably around his neck.

He nods again.

Krolia hums, matching his nod as she focuses on the bowtie. “If after all this time he’s not aware of your flaws and insecurities, of your tendency to fly off to repair a war-torn universe, then he’s probably not even aware that you’re getting married today.” 

Terror seizes Keith’s lungs in a vice and he chokes, eyes wide. But Krolia must see it coming, her hands abandoning the bowtie and moving to grip both his shoulders hard as her eyes bore into his. “Don’t,” she says, tone sharp with conviction. “He’s here, he’s right down the hall. And he loves you, Keith, just as you are.”

Keith closes his eyes and just breathes, letting relief wash away the baseless fear. Deep down he knows Lance wouldn’t run out on him, not without telling him first. Not without a good reason. He’s here, it’s fine. Everything is fine. 

“He asked me, you know. For my blessing and permission.” Krolia’s tone is quiet, mellow, even as her face remains stoic. “I don’t understand much about human culture but it seemed important to him. So I gave it. And you know what he said?”

Keith shakes his head, stunned speechless. Lance never told him he went to Krolia. He actually didn’t divulge much about his preparations for that night, the night he took Keith by the hand and softly asked him to spend forever by his side. The night Keith said yes.

She finishes off the tie with a gentle tug and meets Keith’s gaze with unexpected sincerity. 

“He thanked me. Not just for giving my blessing. But for coming to earth in the first place.” She smiles then, placing her hand once more on Keith’s shoulder. “For having you.”

Warmth spreads beneath Keith’s skin, setting his heart aflame. For both his to-be husband and his slowly softening unflappable mother. 

With hands on his shoulders, Krolia turns Keith around to face the mirror again. His own reflection stares back, eyes finally clear and true without the film of panic clouding his mind. He takes in the well-tailored navy suit and clean lines, the purple dahlia and allium boutonniere pinned to his lapel. 

And the impeccably tied red bow tie nestled in the collar of his shirt. 

Keith runs an astonished finger over the silky fabric. “How did you do that?”

“I learned a few things from your father while I was here,” Krolia says with another smile. And the action is such a change from her usual stoic nature that Keith finds himself mimicking it with a genuine smile of his own. She looks at him earnestly through their reflections in the mirror. “Life isn’t perfect and neither is love. Your father and I didn’t always get along, but if I could go back, I would do the same as you are now.”

Keith stares at his mother with new eyes, seeing her not as the woman who left him as a kid, but as the woman who loved his father. The woman trying to be his mother again. 

And suddenly he feels content. Whole. Utterly complete. With his old family at his back, his found family at his side, and his new family waiting for him with open arms.

“Now come on,” she says with a squeeze to his shoulders and her eyes dance with happiness. “You have a wedding to get to, and I have a son to give away.”

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my Instagram for more Klance and VLD drabbles and short fics: [staymagwrites](https://www.instagram.com/staymagwrites/)


End file.
